Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the GMCA digital team by email gmdigital@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk or telephone 0161 778 7000.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment. To access this call 18002 0161 778 7000. If there is a specific number you wish to call add the prefix of 18002 to enable Text Relay.

Our offices have access to an audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Images

Not all of our images have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Navigation and accessing information

The accessibility of embedded video content is dependent on the standards reached by the third-party provider. Where possible we will make use of features such as subtitles to ensure our content is accessible.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

Forms

The form to sign up to the Greater Manchester green city newsletter is built and hosted through third party software. We are reviewing this and looking for accessible alternatives.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

Pre-recorded video

Some pre-recorded videos don’t have an audio captioning or description, so the information in them isn’t available to people who cannot see or the hear the video content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5.

We plan to add audio captioning or descriptions for all pre-recorded videos by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 30th April 2020. The test was carried out internally by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

We checked a broad sample of pages on the website, including the homepage and a selection of other pages. We used a free-to-use developer tool which checks each page against standard accessibility issues. A manual audit was also conducted. Each of the issues was logged, and an action plan formed and implemented for the website.

What we have done to improve accessibility

We are always open to suggestions, additions or the reporting of accessibility problems. Users can use the contact details supplied above.

We made the following improvements in April 2020

added a ‘skip to main content’ function on the header of every page

increased the colour contrast of headings

ensured all page titles should be unique on the browser window tabs

added labels to all page buttons

reviewed labels and attributes to ensure compatibility with assistive technologies

all forms, menus and web pages are keyboard accessible

headings are nested properly

removed automation on carousel banners

We have developed a web guide to ensure all web authors are creating content that is accessible.

We plan to annually review website accessibility, and ensure that any new pages or PDFs and other online documents conform to web accessibility criteria.

This statement was prepared on 23rd September 2019. It was last updated on 7th May 2020.

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